Wood wicks behave differently to cotton wicks. A little care in the first burn and every burn after will give you a cleaner flame, a fuller scent throw, and a longer lasting candle.
Trim the wick to 6mm before every burn. This is the single most important habit with a wood wick. Left too long, the wick will smoke, blacken, and burn unevenly. A short, clean trim keeps the flame low, steady, and quiet.
Use nail clippers, scissors, or a wick trimmer rather than pinching the wick with your fingers. Wood is more rigid than cotton and pinching can crush the fibres unevenly.
Check that the wax is free of trim debris before lighting. Small pieces of trimmed wick left in the wax pool can create a secondary flame.
Let the first burn run until the melt pool reaches the full edge of the vessel, generally 1 to 2 hours depending on the size of the candle. This step sets the memory of the burn for the rest of the candle's life.
If the first burn is stopped too early, the candle will tunnel, burning a narrow well down the centre and leaving wax stranded at the edges for every burn after.
Keep the candle away from drafts, fans, and air conditioning vents. Wood wicks are more sensitive to airflow than cotton wicks and a moving flame will burn unevenly and produce more soot.
Burn in sessions of 2 to 4 hours at a time. Wood wicks are less forgiving of very long single burns than cotton, and a rest between sessions helps the wick reset cleanly.
If the flame becomes too tall, too small, or starts to gutter, extinguish the candle, let it cool fully, trim the wick again, and relight.
A steady, low, oval shaped flame
A gentle, audible crackle, quieter than a campfire, more like a distant fireplace
An even melt pool that reaches the edges of the vessel within the first burn
Minimal smoke once the wick is trimmed correctly
Tall, flickering flame: the wick may be too long. Extinguish, cool, trim to 6mm, relight.
No crackle or a very faint one: this can happen in humid conditions or with a wick that has picked up moisture. It does not affect the burn quality or fragrance throw.
Soot on the vessel: usually a draft issue or a wick left untrimmed for too long.
Tunnelling: usually caused by extinguishing the first burn before the wax reached the full melt pool. Unfortunately this cannot be fully corrected once it has set in, though running a longer burn can help reclaim some of the edge wax over time.
Store candles away from direct sunlight and heat to protect the fragrance oils and prevent the wax from softening.
Once a vessel is empty, let any remaining wax cool and harden fully before cleaning. Warm water and a small amount of dish soap will lift the residue without damaging the finish, ready for the vessel to be refilled.
